gliglico
The basic error of the translator is that he preserves the state in which his own language happens to be instead of allowing his language to be powerfully affected by the foreign tongue.
– Rudolf Pannwitz1
Here’s an assignment I like to give my undergraduates. Want to try it?
Translate the following passage from Chapter 68 of the Spanish edition of Julio Cortázar’s novel Rayuela into your language:
Apenas él le amalaba el noema, a ella se le agolpaba el clémiso y caían en hidromurias, en salvajes ambonios, en sustalos exasperantes. Cada vez que él procuraba relamar las incopelusas, se enredaba en un grimado quejumbroso y etenía que envulsionarse de cara al nóvalo, sintiendo cómo poco a poco las arnillas se espejunaban, se iban apeltronando, reduplimendo, hasta quedar tendido como el trimalciato de ergomanina al que se la hand ejado caer unas fílulas de cariaconcia. Y sin embargo era apenas el principio, porque en un momento dado ella se tordulaba los hurgalios, consintiendo en que él aproximara suavemente sus orfelunios. Apenas se entreplumaban, algo como un ulucordio los encrestoriaba, los extrayuxtaba y paramovía, de pronto era el clinón, la esterfurosa convulcante de la mátricas, la jadehollante embocapluvia del orgumio, los esproemios del merpasmo en una sobrehumítica agopausa. Evohe! Evohe! Volposados en la cresta del murelio, se sentían balparamar, perlinos y márulos. Temblaba el troc, se vencían las marioplumas, y todo se resolviraba en un profundo pínice, en niolamas de argutendidas gasas, en carinias case crueles que los ordopenaban hasta el límite de las gunfias.
Spanish a little rusty? Dictionary out of date? Or maybe you’d prefer the English? Luckily—or maybe not—you’ve got Gregory Rabassa on your side, one of Julio’s finest translators. But even Rabassa can’t protect you from what’s coming. Try to translate this one into your own language:
As soon as he began to amalate the noeme, the clemise began to smother her and they fell into hydromuries, into savage amboines, into exasperating sustales. Each time that he tried to relamate the hairincops, he became entangled in a whining grimate and had to face up to envulsioning the novalisk, feeling how little by little the arnees would spejune, were becoming peltronated, redoblated, until they were stretched out like the ergomanine trimalciate which drops a few filures of cariaconce. And it was still only the beginning, because right away she tordled her hurgales, allowing him gently to bring up his orfelunes. No sooner had they cofeathered than something like a ulucord encrestored them, extrajuxted them, and paramoved them, suddenly it was the clinon, the sterfurous convulcant of matericks, the slobberdigging raimouth of the orgumion, the sproemes of the merpasm in one superhumitic agopause. Evohé! Evohé! Voposited on the crest of a murelium, they felt themselves being balparammed, perline and marulous. The trock was trembling, the mariplumes were overcome, and everything became resolvirated into a profound pinex, into niolames of argutentic gauzes, into almost cruel cariniers which ordopained them to the limit of their gumphies.
Whatever language you choose, just make sure it spejunes properly.
1 Quoted in Walter Benjamin, “The Task of the Translator,” Illuminations, Trans. Harry Zohn (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1968), p. 81.